This invention relates to a speaker apparatus having a panel-shaped diaphragm and an electronic apparatus employing this speaker apparatus. More particularly, it relates to a speaker apparatus in which flexural oscillations (bending wave vibrations) are produced in the panel-shaped diaphragm by the oscillations applied from a driver unit to reproduce the acoustic sound.
Up to now, a conically-shaped dynamic speaker or a horn-shaped dynamic speaker is used extensively as a speaker apparatus.
The conically-shaped dynamic speaker is made up of a conically-shaped diaphragm, a driver unit driving this diaphragm and a cabinet for housing these components. The driver unit is made up of a voice coil placed on the proximal end of a voice coil bobbin mounted as-one on a mid portion on the proximal end of the diaphragm and an external magnet type magnetic circuit unit. The magnetic circuit unit is made up of a yoke having a center pole, a magnet arranged on the yoke for surrounding the center pole, and a top plate arranged on the magnet and adapted for defining a magnetic gap between it and the center pole. The diaphragm is supported, via a washer, by a frame secured at an external end on the proximal end on the magnetic circuit unit by inserting a voice coil placed around the voice coil bobbin into the magnetic gap of the magnetic circuit unit. The diaphragm is supported by a damper mounted across the voice coil bobbin and the frame. The damper supports the diaphragm so that, when the diaphragm is set into vibrations, it will be oscillated uniformly parallel to the center axis of the diaphragm. On the inner periphery of the diaphragm is mounted a center cap for closing an opening end of the tubular voice coil bobbin. The center cap constitutes a portion of the diaphragm.
If, with the conical dynamic speaker, as described above, an acoustic playback input signal is supplied to a voice coil, the diaphragm is set into vibrations by the force generated by the interaction between the driving current flowing in the voice coil and the magnetic flux radiated from the magnetic circuit unit to radiate the acoustic sound.
The diaphragm used for a conical dynamic speaker is formed in a conical shape from a lightweight material which undergoes significant internal losses. The frame supporting the diaphragm is provided with a hole for releasing the sound radiated from the back side of the diaphragm. The function of this hole is to prevent adverse effects otherwise caused by the oscillations of the diaphragm by the sound radiated from the back side of the diaphragm being reflected by the frame to get to the diaphragm. The function of the washer is to support the diaphragm with respect to the frame and to prevent the diaphragm from directly contacting with a cabinet mounting section when the diaphragm is set into oscillations.
On the other hand, a horn-shaped dynamic speaker has a horn on the front side of the diaphragm for enhancing the acoustic sound from the diaphragm for radiating the enhanced sound.
The horn-shaped dynamic speaker includes a dome-shaped diaphragm and a driving unit for driving this diaphragm. This driver unit includes an internal magnet type magnetic circuit unit made up of a voice coil placed around a voice coil bobbin mounted as-one on the diaphragm, a pot-shaped yoke, a magnet arranged centrally of the yoke, a pole arranged on the magnet, and a top plate arranged on the yoke for facing the pole and which defines a magnetic gap between it and the pole.
The diaphragm of the speaker is arranged by inserting the voice coil placed around the voice coil bobbin into a magnetic gap of the magnetic circuit unit and by having its rim supported on a top plate constituting the magnetic circuit unit.
With the hone-shaped dynamic speaker, as in the cone-shaped dynamic speaker, the diaphragm is set into oscillations to radiate acoustic sound when the driving current corresponding to the acoustic signals is fed to the voice coil, by the force produced by the interaction between the driving current flowing in the voice coil and the magnetic flux radiated from the magnetic circuit unit.
The dome-shaped diaphragm, used in the hone-shaped dynamic speaker, is formed of light metal, such as aluminum, or synthetic resin, higher in toughness than the conical diaphragm, and hence can be set uniformly into oscillations, in a direction parallel to the center axis, when the diaphragm is supported only at the rim portion.
With the above-described cone-shaped dynamic speaker or hone-shaped dynamic speaker, in which the diaphragm is conically-shaped or dome-shaped, the speaker apparatus in its entirety is increased in thickness.
For reducing the thickness of the apparatus, there is used a speaker apparatus employing a flat-plate-shaped diaphragm. Among the speaker apparatus of this type, there is a capacitor type speaker, in which a diaphragm made up of a flat-plate-shaped substrate and an electrically conductive thin metal film deposited thereon is arranged facing a fixed pole with a small gap in-between. In this speaker, a dc bias voltage of hundreds of volt is applied across the diaphragm and the fixed pole. When acoustic signals are inputted to the fixed pole, the diaphragm is set into oscillations as a result of change in the electrostatic force of attraction between the diaphragm and the fixed pole.
With the capacitor type speaker, in which hundreds volt needs to be applied across the diaphragm and the fixed plate, not only limitations are imposed on the floor space, but also stable driving is rendered difficult due to changes in temperature or humidity. Also, in the capacitor type speaker, in which the input voltage is prescribed by the dc bias voltage, the maximum distortionless output sound pressure level, obtained for a given input voltage, is small in comparison with that of the above-mentioned dynamic speaker apparatus, such that a large sound cannot be produced. Moreover, in the capacitor type speaker, the diaphragm needs to be increased in size to acquire a stable frequency response in the audible frequency range. However, it is difficult to drive the large-sized diaphragm in stability.
In the above-described conventional speaker apparatus, acoustic reproduction is achieved by uniformly oscillating the diaphragm by a driver unit. In such speaker apparatus, it is necessary for the diaphragm to be oscillated uniformly, without generating resonant modes, when the diaphragm is oscillated by the driver unit.
In order for the diaphragm to be oscillated uniformly without inducing its resonant mode, the diaphragm needs to be formed of a sufficiently tough material. Moreover, for suppressing the resonant mode of the diaphragm, it is necessary to select the shape of the diaphragm or the supporting structure for the frame in many ways to render designing or manufacture difficult. In the speaker apparatus employing a flat-plate-shaped diaphragm, the driving point by the driving unit needs to be adjusted to the material or size of the diaphragm, again to render designing or manufacture difficult.
Also, a speaker configured to cause uniform oscillations of the diaphragm by the driver unit is termed a dipole sound source, and generates the oppositely phased sounds on the front and back sides of the diaphragm. These oppositely phased sounds, in particular the sounds of the mid to low frequency ranges with low directivity, interfere with each other to degrade the frequency response characteristics. Thus, in this type of the speaker apparatus, a speaker unit is mounted on a baffle plate, and the back side of the speaker unit is covered by an enclosure, which is a hermetically sealed cabinet, in order to prevent the sound waves emanating from the front and back sides of the diaphragm from interfering with each other.
Thus, with the conventional speaker apparatus, employing a baffle plate or an enclosure, is placed under limitations as to the mounting position or site.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel speaker apparatus different in its driving system from the routinely used speaker apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a speaker apparatus which is able to be driven with optimum response properties with respect to the playback input signals of a broad frequency range to realize optimum frequency response characteristics and the playback sound of optimum sound quality.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a speaker apparatus which can be reduced in thickness and size.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a speaker apparatus which is not limited as to the mounting position or setting position.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a speaker apparatus that can be easily unified to electronic equipments, such as a personal computer, a radio receiver or a television receiver, and an electronic equipment into which is unitarily built the present speaker apparatus.
The speaker apparatus of the present invention reproduces the acoustic sound by exploiting the flexural oscillations (bending wave vibrations) of a panel-shaped diaphragm having a substantially flat surface and moderate toughness. In this flexural oscillations, a flat-plate-shaped diaphragm is flexurally oscillated in its entirety or partially to radiata the acoustic sound. The oscillation system by the flexural oscillations differs from the system in which the diaphragm is uniformly oscillated by a piston movement obtained on reciprocating the diaphragm in a direction parallel to its center axis by a driver unit.
The panel-shaped diaphragm is formed of a material having toughness which is sufficient for enabling the operation as a diaphragm by itself and which is of a small attenuation factor such as to cause propagation of the oscillations accorded by the driver unit flexurally oscillating the diaphragm to respective portions of the diaphragm. Therefore, a thin film or a paper sheet that cannot operate by itself as a panel-shaped diaphragm or clay low in toughness and unable to propagate oscillations is not used as a diaphragm.
If, in a speaker employing a panel-shaped diaphragm and adapted to perform acoustic reproduction by flexural oscillations thereof, the oscillations are applied to the diaphragm, the diaphragm undergoes flexural oscillations so that the oscillation mode corresponding to the frequency of the applied oscillations is produced on the entire diaphragm. If oscillations over a wide frequency range from the low to high frequencies are applied to the diaphragm, complex oscillation modes corresponding to the applied frequencies are produced in the diaphragm. The frequency response characteristics of the speaker apparatus employing the panel-shaped diaphragm are characterized by analyses of the physical properties of the flexural oscillations of the diaphragm of a limited size, speed versus frequency characteristics of the flexural oscillations and by the driving point impedance characteristics.
With a speaker employing a panel-shaped diaphragm, diaphragms of a bending toughness, the parameters of which have been optimized depending on the estimated applications, is used to enable the operation of the apparatus up to the minimum fundamental frequency. This minimum fundamental frequency prevails if the entire panel-shaped diaphragm undergoes flexure corresponding to one-half wavelength. In the present speaker apparatus, oscillations from the driver unit are applied to the vicinity of the center point of the diaphragm to acquire the oscillations of the panel-shaped diaphragm at the minimum fundamental frequency. The size of the panel-shaped diaphragm, used for the speaker apparatus, specifically, the particular aspect ratio which gives the uniform mode density by finite element analysis, is found by a mathematic modelling tool. Also, for realizing the uniformity in the optimum oscillation mode produced in the diaphragm, the point of the panel-shaped diaphragm to which oscillations are applied from the driver unit is found on Fourier analysis. Although certain losses are produced in the high frequency range by expansion of the Fourier analysis, it is possible to drive a panel-shaped diaphragm of a larger area.
That is, the manner of flexure of the panel-shaped diaphragm, used in a speaker apparatus reproducing the acoustic sound using flexural oscillations of the diaphragm, is varied in dependence upon the material type, shape or size of the diaphragm, structure of the diaphragm, position of application of the oscillations from the driver unit and upon the diaphragm supporting method. In general, the higher the frequency, the larger is the number of resonant modes or the amount of the flexure. The speaker apparatus employing the panel-shaped diaphragm operates as a bipolar sound source for a low sound frequency area of the frequency of flexural oscillations of the diaphragm inclusive of the minimum fundamental frequency, with the reverse-phased sound wave being produced ahead and at back of the diaphragm to exhibit bi-directional characteristics. With increasing frequency of the flexural oscillations of the diaphragm, plural flexural oscillations are produced on the diaphragm surface at intricately changing positions, with the flexural oscillations being produced at the respective positions and radiated substantially without regard to the phase. Thus, the diaphragm in its entirety displays characteristics with low directivity. If the frequency of the flexural oscillations of the diaphragm is increased further, the diaphragm undergoes flexural oscillations to a larger extent. However, the oscillations applied to the diaphragm from the driver unit cannot reach the outer rim of the diaphragm due to propagation losses. Thus, it is mainly the vicinity of the driver unit that is mainly subjected to the flexural oscillations to contribute to sound radiation. Therefore, in the high frequency range, the diaphragm apparently operates as an extremely small sound source to exhibit omni-directivity.
It is thus possible with the speaker apparatus employing flexural oscillations of the panel-shaped diaphragm to reproduce the sound over a wide frequency range from lower to high frequency ranges, by a sole panel-shaped diaphragm driven by a sole driver unit. By forming the diaphragm of a material exhibiting moderate toughness and by suitably setting the point of the diaphragm to which are applied the oscillations from the driver unit, optimum frequency response characteristics can be obtained over a wide frequency range from lower to high frequency ranges.
If, with the speaker apparatus employing the panel-shaped diaphragm, the responsiveness to oscillations applied from the driver unit and the electrical loads with respect to the oscillations imparted by the driver unit are selected to be equal to those used conventionally, it is possible not only to realize interchangeability with respect to the amplifier used for driving the conventional speaker apparatus, but also to use a dynamic or piezoelectric driver unit to realize a radiation pattern of extremely wide sound field and a bi-directional radiation pattern.
The speaker apparatus employing the flexural oscillations of the panel-shaped diaphragm has a high conversion efficiency from the mechanical energy to the acoustic energy, while having omni-directional radiation characteristics not dependent on the frequency. That is, a constant large sound pressure level can be realized from the low frequency range to the high frequency range, with the sound pressure decease under distance-limitations being minimum.
The speaker apparatus of the present invention reproduces the acoustic sound by flexural oscillations of the panel-shaped diaphragm by the oscillations applied from a driver unit driven by acoustic playback input signals.
More specifically, the speaker apparatus according to the present invention includes a diaphragm, in the form of a panel having a substantially flat surface, an outer rim portion of which can be oscillated substantially freely in the direction along the diaphragm thickness and at least one driver unit connected to the diaphragm surface for constituting an oscillation source imparting the oscillations to the diaphragm. With the present speaker apparatus, flexural oscillations are induced in the diaphragm by the oscillations imparted from the driver unit driven by the playback input signal to reproduce the acoustic sound. With the present speaker apparatus, the driver unit, supported by the supporting member, is mounted at a pre-set position.
On the panel-shaped diaphragm, mass weight components are arranged in a distributed fashion. The driver unit is connected to the diaphragm surface via connecting portions of pre-set size and shape. The portions of the diaphragm connected to the driver unit are different in material type from the remaining diaphragm portions. The diaphragm and the driver unit are interconnected via a connecting member. This connecting member is different in the shape of a connecting portion thereof to the diaphragm and in the shape of a connecting portion thereof to the diaphragm.
Around the panel-shaped diaphragm is mounted a protective frame for protecting the diaphragm. The diaphragm has its one outer rim portion secured to the protective frame, with the other outer rim portions being oscillatable substantially freely along the direction of the diaphragm thickness.
According to the present invention, a portion of the main body portion of an electronic equipment, such as a personal computer, or a portion of a lid mounted to the main body portion of an electronic equipment, is used as a diaphragm. The driver unit is arranged on the main body unit of the electronic equipment or in a lid and a portion of the main body unit or the lid is subjected to flexural oscillations by the oscillations applied from the driver unit driven by the playback input signal to reproduce the acoustic sound.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the following description of the preferred embodiments and the claims.